The initial proposition was that Jack was a man of "science," being a medical doctor and all, would struggle against Locke, a man of "faith." But Locke never had a background story in either religion or spiritual belief. He took many people's word as gospel, but he constantly got burned as a result. It is hard to tell whether Locke's "new island vision" was a lightning bolt of religious faith or an obsessive need for purpose - - - a second chance to live his dream.
Ben called the island a "Magic Box." Afterward, Locke's reward for protecting the island was what he desperately wanted: to confront his father, Cooper. The island brought Cooper, who claimed he was in a serious automobile accident but was swept away to the island, to Locke. Then Ben told Locke that in order to be an island leader, he'd have to kill his father (just as Ben himself had done). One could consider the latter ritual as pagan, a form a sadistic worship. But it could be just as well as manipulative fear of the general population of the Others.
After Desmond's fail safe key "save," the series may have jumped the Dharma shark to dismiss both science and faith toward the vague realm of pure magic. Desmond, Charlie and Eko really should not have survived the explosion/implosion of the Hatch. The island should not have been bouncing around in both time and space, let alone controlled by a wooden donkey wheel.
For the writers, magic had one great tool. Magic has no explanation. It is just magic. No science. No faith. No belief system. No connecting the dots to get a result. No, magic is abracadabra; it is what it is and does what it does because it is magic.
Supernatural is not a explanation because one cannot dissect it in order to see how it works. Even a trained magician at a kid's party can teach someone the hidden dove trick. But in a scripted series where the viewer is led down various twisting paths with scientific and religious terminology, one would hope the writers would have taught us their own hidden dove tricks.
